More than a football home opener, the West End Classic celebrates the people, places, and pride that have shaped Salisbury, North Carolina.
Every football season begins with anticipation. In Salisbury, the West End Classic carries something more: a chance to bring the community together on Livingstone College's campus and recognize the neighborhood whose history surrounds it.
The Classic grew from a partnership between West End Pride and the West End Community Organization, with support from former Livingstone College President Dr. Jimmy R. Jenkins. Alongside Livingstone College and the City of Salisbury, the organizations helped make the game a celebration of the West End as well as a football tradition. The event has honored community members and recognized the contributions residents make throughout the year. In 2026, the Classic will commemorate the West End's neighborhood organization and the work they continue to do.
To understand why that recognition matters, take a look beyond the stadium.
A neighborhood shaped by its people
The West End's story lives in its homes, schools, churches, businesses, and gathering places. The Price House, the Aggrey House on West Monroe Street, and the home associated with educator Elizabeth Duncan Koontz connect the neighborhood to generations of leadership and learning.
Joseph Charles Price, founder and first president of Livingstone College, built his West Monroe Street home in 1884. A minister, educator, and renowned speaker, Price helped establish an institution that would become a lasting center of Black education and community life in Salisbury. Livingstone College was founded in 1879 as Zion Wesley Institute in Concord, North Carolina, and moved to Salisbury in 1882.
The Aggrey House adds an international dimension to the neighborhood's history. James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey, born in the Gold Coast, now Ghana, studied and later taught at Livingstone. He became an influential educator whose work reached across continents. His wife, Rose Douglass Aggrey, was also a teacher and advocate for education and racial harmony. Their home on West Monroe Street is part of that story.
The West End's historic landmarks also include J.C. Price High School, Moore's Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church, the Ritz Theater, now Reach Church, and neighborhood gathering places such as Randall/Brown Barbershop and the Scott/McLaughlin Store. These places tell a story that cannot be measured only in buildings: they speak to the institutions, businesses, and shared spaces through which community life took shape.
Education, faith, and opportunity
J.C. Price High School stands as a powerful reminder of the community's investment in education. Built with support from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, the school opened in 1932 and served Black students in Salisbury. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its history reflects both the barriers Black students faced and the determination of educators, families, and community members who worked to expand opportunity.
That legacy is also carried by Elizabeth Duncan Koontz, a Salisbury educator and Price High School alumna who became the first Black president of the National Education Association. Her work in education and public service made her a nationally recognized leader. The African-American Heritage Trail written by Raemi Evans recognizes Koontz, the Aggreys, Joseph Charles Price, Monroe Street School, and Moore's Chapel among the people and places that help tell Salisbury and Rowan County's Black history.
The trail offers a way to see this history as connected: education, faith, leadership, and community life are woven together across Salisbury. In the West End, those themes can be found close to the college and the stadium where the Classic is played.
A football legacy born on campus
Livingstone's athletic story is part of that same history. On December 27, 1892, Livingstone College and Biddle University, now Johnson C. Smith University, played what is recognized as the first intercollegiate football game between Black colleges. The game took place on Livingstone's campus, and a marker there commemorates the birthplace of Black College Football.
The neighborhood's football legacy continued through J.C. Price High School. In 2025, the school's 1940 football team was inducted into the Salisbury-Rowan Sports Hall of Fame, honoring a team whose achievement remains part of Salisbury's sports history.
That history gives a home opener here a special meaning. The West End Classic links the excitement of a new Livingstone football season with a much longer story of Black education, athletic achievement, and community pride.
Honoring the people who carry the legacy
The West End's history is made not only by landmarks, but by the people who organize, serve, advocate, and keep the community connected. The leaders and members recognized here include:
West End Neighborhood Organization
- President/Chair: DeeDee Wright
- Treasurer: Verlon Anderson
- Board members: Bradley Taylor, Stephanie Roebuck, Onesha Nunn, Joyce Smyre, Pete Teague, Shirley McLaughlin, & Levonia Corry
A special thank you goes to
Raemi Evans and Janine Evans, along with the many other West End members, community leaders, families, and neighbors whose service has made a lasting difference through the years. Their dedication is part of the living history the Classic celebrates.
Celebrating the West End now
Black history deserves to be recognized throughout the year. The West End Classic provides one moment to do that, by bringing neighbors, alumni, students, and visitors together in the place where so much of this history unfolded.
As the 2026 Classic honors the West End's neighborhood organizations, it also celebrates the people who keep the West End moving forward. The homes and landmarks offer reminders of the past; the organizations, residents, and traditions show that this history is still being made.
The West End Classic is a game day, a former home opener, and a gathering rooted in place. Above all, it is a celebration of the West End: its people, its culture, its schools, its pride, and its progress.
